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User blog:JohnnyOTGS/JohnnyTalk Special~Plague Cures
Hello everybody and welcome to another special edition of JohnnyTalk World. ''Today is a continuation of my wiki page about the Black Death (click here to read it if you haven't already). This will cover the strange, unusual (and unsanitary) methods to either cure or prevent the Plague. The Plague hit Europe in the 1340s, and it wiped out around half (or more) of the population of Europe. It was in the Christian Age and before Science and reasoning were the majority. But that didn't stop people from trying to find ways to cure and/or prevent the Plague, and there were several ways that the people found to stop the plague. Plague Cures Bloodletting/Leeching/Lancing One way to cure the Plague was the traditional method of the time: bloodletting. Some Plague doctors believe that the Plague was caused by bad Humanly humors, and letting out the "bad blood" and allowing "healthy blood" to replace it would ultimately cure the patient of the disease. What they do is take what is called a ''fleam (some kind of cutting tool) and let the "bad blood" drain out. Leeching was also tried as it was like Bloodletting, but with Leeches. Another method was something called "Lancing" which is the intentional rupture of the Bubo. The Plague doctor would take a fleam and then either puncture or sometimes cut open the Bubo to let out the blood and black pus that is inside. But not only would it cause excruciating pain, it would also spray the blood and black pus all over the place, and give off a foul-smelling stench too. Aged Treacle You may or may not have already heard of treacle which is used mostly for tasty treat recipes. Back in the 14th century and during the Black Death, it was used as Medicine. And it isn't your typical cold medicine that you buy at your local grocery store either. Treacle, when it has aged for 10 years, can develop mold which is said to be enough to "cure" the plague. But the aged treacle is icky-tasing, thick, and sticky. Urine Treatments Some plague doctors even experimented with their patients' urine and judging from the color and consistency of the urine, they have determined that urine can "cure" those who have the plague. At first, the patients would drink urine in hopes it'll "cure" them. Some Plague doctors took it a step further and made their patients not just drink urine, but also bathe in it too. Crystal Treatments For the wealthy nobility. They had something similar to the urine treatment: the Crystal Treatment. How it's done is that they take some crystals such as emeralds or pearls (crystals that can be crushed easily) they crush and ground them into dust, and then mixed it with water. It was believed that the ground up crystals would help bring the bodily humors back in balance. Paste Treatments Plague doctors would also make a rudimentary paste either out of flower roots, tree resin, or even human fecal matter. They would Lance the Bubo, put the paste on, and wrap it tightly so the paste can do its job. Chicken Treatment One of the more "unusual" treatments for the Plague was using a live Chicken (namely a rooster). The Plague Doctor would take a Rooster, pluck its backside, and rub the bare backside on the buboes. This treatment is believed that by using the Chicken's body heat along with friction would help draw out the poison inside the bubo. Interaction Some people believe that negative human emotions such as stress and depression made them more susceptible to the Plague, and the cure was to interact with other people (namely at dinnertime so people hosted dinner parties). People would even take turns hosting dinner parties in hopes to relieve their stresses and be less depressed. Flogging In the Christian Age, many people in Europe believed that the Plague was a form of punishment by Jehova (the Christian God), and those religious people would use a 3-edged whip and would use it on themselves (which is called flogging. These people would even march down a street of a town and "flog" themselves, as a form of punishment for their sins. Sweating Another method to rid the body of the Plague was to "sweat it out" (literally). Patients were either taken to a hot environment or given food full of protein or certain medicines that would raise their metabolic heat, causing them to sweat. Sweating was thought to "cure" the plague because once the victim was sweating, the Plague would drain along with the sweat. Preventing the Plague Unlike today where preventing the spread of a Cold or the Flu is easy and common sense (as in washing your hands, and making sure you get your Flu Shot). Preventing the spread of the Plague in the 14th century was very complex and sometimes gross. As with urine being a Plague Cure, Plague Doctors also told people to drink a glass of their own urine several times a day to keep themselves healthy. There were also other ways people used to try to stop the spread of the Plague. Intentional Vomiting One way to "prevent" the Plague from spreading was to intentionally vomit. It is believed that this would stop people from getting sick with the plague because they would expel the bacteria before it had time to incubate and fester inside the body. People were told to this on a regular basis, and especially if they believe they were showing signs of any kind of Plague symptoms. Move to the Sewer Some people and Plague doctors believe that the Plague was caused by bad air, and people were advised to stay away from sewers, but for those who already have the disease they actually moved to the sewers in order not to infect anybody else. No Bathing or Making Love Due to the already unsanitary environment in some parts of Europe, some Plague doctors even told people to avoid public baths and even told married couples to avoid engaging in sexual intercourse because both would further spread the disease. Now, you might be asking, how effective were these so-called "cures" (note that this blog constantly put quotation marks on the word cure)? Well, these "so-called" cures did accomplish is convincing people that these cures actually worked, and many people believed once word got out. But, in reality, these "so-called cures" were ineffective at best, or even counterproductive, and some of them are just hair-brained, and even have no purpose whatsoever. In some cases, they even actually spread the Plague, causing more people to die. That will do it for my Special Blog Page. Don't forget to check out my Games and Movies wikis too. Until next time, this is JohnnyOTGS signing out. Category:Blog posts